I just started building myself. I have lots of woodworking skills previous to making two bass guitars. You will need a table saw, plainer, joiner, lots of clamps and glue, a good router with a 1/2 inch pattern bit, some files, an oscillating drum sander, band saw, drill, chisels, long sanding block, good bench vise, drill press, 9/16 inch drill bit for tuning machine holes (hard to find), and bandaids. That's the basic list.

It's more expensive to build one than to buy one but a whole lot more fun. You can see the progress of both my last two bass guitars by following my web page link below.